Matt was born into the cowboy life, traveling with his parents to a ranch job in Lodge Grass, Montana, in 1960 where he began his life in the saddle. The family in 1963 moved to Faddis Kennedy Cattle Co. north of Gillette where he worked along with his parents until they passed. While working for Kennedys he learned a great deal about herd health, raising horses, breaking colts, and dabbling in custom farming. He stayed with Kennedys until July of 1991 and then moved to The Larsen Ranch in Rozet, where his wife Diann’s parents ranched. Here he was able to work for a place that he could one day call his own. He acquired his own herd of cattle, horses, and farm equipment. Matt still resides at the Larsen Ranch, now known as the Avery/Graham Ranch, taking pride in the fact that it is a 6th generation ranch. To this day one can find Matt roping at a branding, sitting horseback in the corrals sorting cattle, helping pair out during calving, or just about anything that involves saddle time. If not in the saddle, he will more than likely be building saddles or strumming his guitar. Matt has built 43 saddles and completed numerous leather work projects and a lot of repair work. Matt has also spent more than 20 years helping the youth of the community with leather work projects for 4-H.